Anti-Israel protesters disrupt Israeli movie screening at UC Irvine

Amid chants of “Long live the intifada,” anti-Israel student protesters disrupted the viewing of a film about Israeli soldiers at UC Irvine on Wednesday night, leading campus police to escort Jewish students away from the scene.

UCI Chancellor Howard Gillman responded Thursday with a campus-wide message saying the incident “crossed the line of civility.”

“While this university will protect freedom of speech, that right is not absolute … threats, harassment, incitement and defamatory speech are not protected. We must shelter everyone’s right to speak freely – without fear or intimidation – and allow events to proceed without disruption and potential danger,” Gillman wrote in the letter.

The administration is “investigating whether disciplinary or legal actions are appropriate,” Gillman wrote.

About a dozen students from UCI’s Students Supporting Israel met Wednesday night inside a classroom of the Social and Behavioral Sciences Gateway to view the Israeli film, “Beneath the Helmet.”

Outside, some 50 protesters gathered and began profanity-laced chants against Israel and UCI police, according to observers and video from the scene.

“They were screaming. They tried to push open the door, but we were holding the door from the inside,” said Katrin Gendova, the Israel group president, who said the attendees were mostly women and some felt intimated and trapped inside the room. Continue reading →

On February 12, 2008, the Orange County Independent Task Force completed a year-long investigation at the University of California, Irvine ( UCI). Over 80 hours of interviews, as well as, documents, written complaints and numerous visits to the campus were used in the compilation of the subsequent Findings and Recommendations. Among the reports findings were that ” acts of anti-Semitism are real and well documented. Jewish students have been harassed. Hate speech has been unrelenting

Though the report was widely distributed and copies sent to the highest echelons of the University of California, it was roundly ignored. In our view, University Of California officials, including UC President Mark Yudof, have failed to adequately address anti-semitic hate speech and harassment on it’s campuses. Now, 4 1/2 years after the release of the Findings and Recommendations and at least 10 years since the beginning of the problems, we read the following editorial. What took so long?– OCITF______________________________________________________________________________

F or the past decade, a movement of protest against Israel, its policies and Zionism has occupied a central place on University of California and other college and university campuses. The nature of the messages embodied in that movement has drawn tremendous attention and study.

Israel “Apartheid” weeks, mock checkpoints in which students carry fake automatic weapons and portray Israeli soldiers indiscriminately targeting Palestinians, cartoons and other depictions of Israelis as Nazis, and speakers which routinely accuse Israel of genocide, ethnic cleansing and other crimes are the hallmarks of the protests.

In many instances, traditional anti-Semitic themes of Jewish control of the media and U.S. government are advanced as explanations for U.S. support of Israel and the plight of the Palestinians. Continue reading →

With no debate, lawmakers on Tuesday approved a resolution that encourages university leaders to combat a wide array of anti-Jewish and anti-Israel actions.

“California schools need to recognize that anti-Semitism is still a very real issue on college campuses around the state—it did not disappear with the end of World War II,” said Assemblywoman Linda Halderman, R-Fresno, the resolution’s author.

Most of the incidents of anti-Semitism the resolution cited are related to the Israel-Palestine debate. These include instances of protesters comparing Israeli police to Nazis and urging support for Hamas.

The resolution, which is purely symbolic and does not carry policy implications, also condemns the suggestion that Israel is a “racist” state and that Jews “wield excessive power over American foreign policy.” The resolution characterizes the student campaign to pressure the University of California system to divest from Israel as anti-Semitic, and applauds university leaders’ refusal to consider it. Continue reading →

While the Middle East and North Africa continue to roil in blood shed with governments in Libya and Syria gunning down civilians on a daily basis, the Muslim Student Union, fresh from its “suspension”, presents this years edition of hypocrisy and hatred :

At UC Irvine, Campus Rules and the First Amendment

“UC Irvine wants to ban a Muslim student group for orchestrating a plan to shout down the Israeli ambassador during a speech on the campus. Would a ban violate the students’ rights to free speech and association? What if they lied to university officials about their role in advance planning….?”

“Jewish Federation Orange County remains hopeful concerning the current campus Judicial process. We ask the University to do the right thing regarding the 11 Muslim students arrested during the Oren even and ” close the door on hate speech!” We will continue supporting the University during this process and fully understand the significance of this investigation before rushing to judge”

By contrast a press release issued by the Jewish Federation on April 7, 2010: Continue reading →

A. Use by University-Related Persons and Groups “….Whenever an event is sponsored by a registered campus organization, it must be reviewed by the Office of the Dean of Students, as appropriate, for compliance with University policies and procedures.”

In addition to the “apartheid wall”, displays like these lined Ring Road on 5/14/09, courtesy of MSU and their co-sponsors.

During Malik Ali’s traditional noontime bash of “Zionist Jews”, Israel and America, he renewed his call for “civil disobedience”. He also blamed Somali piracy on “fishing Rights”and the West’s “dumping of nuclear waste ” in Somali Waters.